Earlier this morning, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Peggy Flanagan formally announced that she will be running to represent the state in the U.S. Senate. “A Native American woman has never won a seat in the U.S. Senate before,” Flanagan wrote on her Instagram page. “I believe we can change that. Are you with me?” Flanagan is seeking to replace Senator Tina Smith, who announced earlier this month that she would not seek re-election in 2026, opening up a seat for Minnesota.
A Democrat who has served as Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor since 2018, Flanagan was heavily involved in last year s Harris-Walz campaign. Throughout the race, her intentional fashion choices were impossible to miss. At the 2024 DNC, Flanagan wore a black and white Jamie Okuma Parfleche blazer and skirt, and a pair of Copper Canoe Woman statement earrings. Flanagan has chosen to spotlight contemporary Indigenous designers on the national stage (Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe). “I really want those earrings,” one viewer noted, while another simply exclaimed, “She is fabulous!”
In the months that followed, as the presidential election race continued to accelerate, Flanagan only continued this intentional approach to dressing for the campaign trail. Whether speaking at rallies or canvassing for citizens to get out and vote, Flanagan has been using what she wears for a much deeper purpose—to draw attention to some of the nation’s finest Indigenous designers, and on a larger level, to draw awareness to the Indigenous community as a whole. (Especially in certain swing states, such as Arizona, where the Indigenous vote was crucial.)
It’s no secret that what politicians wear in the public domain is always strategic. Whereas Kamala Harris and Dr. Jill Biden have both embraced patriotic style—keeping to classic shades of red, white, and blue to demonstrate their love for their country—Flanagan has chosen colorful garments, including traditional ribbon skirts, as well as statement earrings (her signature piece) made of dentalium shells, beads, or turquoise; She has taken a distinctive approach that champions the unique beauty and craftwork found within her own Native community. The celebratory and upbeat feel of her ensembles is also fitting given that, if Flanagan is elected to the Senate, she would become the first Native American woman to win a seat; What she has worn, then, has nodded to this potentially historic moment.
Flanagan isn’t the only politician to take such a thoughtful approach to fashion, either. Throughout their times in office, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Kansas Representative Sharice Davids have done so as well. For Haaland’s swearing-in ceremony back in 2021, she donned a vibrant traditional ribbon dress from Reecreations, moccasins, and dragonfly earrings made by the Laguna Pueblo metalsmith Pat Pruitt. For Flanagan, however, her joyful approach to style reflects how she is feeling in this very moment. “As the first Native American and woman of color elected statewide in Minnesota,” she wrote on Instagram, “I am overwhelmed with gratitude and hope.”
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